The Ventana Big Sur is an Alila Resort, one of the newer Hyatt brands as part of the Hyatt’s acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality last year. What’s unique about this property is its an all inclusive resort, meaning all meals and non-alcoholic beverages are included with your stay.

The resort is a World of Hyatt Category 7 property with free night awards starting at 30,000 points per night. The all inclusive amenities apply to award reservations as well, making this a great redemption value considering paid rates here can be upwards of $2,000 per night.

The property was closed for several months, however has started reopening on July 15, 2020, but a few amenities are still closed including the gym and spa and outdoor hot tub.

Ventana Big Sur Social House

Ventana Big Sur Social House

Ventana Big Sur Social House

As a World of Hyatt Globalist, I was pleased to learn that we were upgraded to the Big Sur Forest Shower Suite. The suite was essentially one large room, with an outdoor terrace that featured an outdoor shower.

The resort has 59 rooms with many suites, so it does seem that Globalist upgrades are a regular occurrence when staying here.

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite bathroom

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite balcony

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite outdoor shower

Big Sur Forest Shower Suite outdoor shower

Ventana Big Sur swimming pool

Ventana Big Sur outdoor hot tub (currently closed)

Ventana Big Sur resort

Being an all-inclusive resort all meals on the property are included with your stay including in-room dining. We were able to order multiple entrees each morning for breakfast and share.

Ventana Big Sur poolside lunch

Ventana Big Sur fish tacos

One of the changes implemented was that all restaurant menus were digital, meaning you had to scan the QR code on your phone. Additionally, the actual menus seemed to be a more limited selection.

Despite being an all inclusive resort, alcohol wasn’t including with the exception of the nightly happy hour, which featured a different drink each night.

Nightly Happy Hour cocktails

Nightly Happy Hour cocktails

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for nice getaway for a few days then I’d highly recommend Ventana Big Sur. As room rates can run $2,000+ per night for this all-inclusive resort, it’s a much better value to redeem 30,000 World of Hyatt points to stay.

World of Hyatt members can receive up to 25% back on award redemptions through January 4, 2021, so when factoring this in, you can essentially stay here for as little as 22,500 points per night which is a phenomenal redemption for the all inclusive resort.

We did have some trouble booking this stay with award availability, as it was constantly changing giving the few rooms the hotel has, however rooms kept opening up last minute as I suspect they were upgrading elite members to suites thus opening back up the lower category rooms.

Also, many of the awards here do have a 2 night minimum length of stay requirement, so if you’re having trouble finding award space, try searching for 2 nights at a time.

Have you had a chance to experience Ventana Big Sur, feel free to comment below on your experience.